Clare Boothe Luce

Clare Boothe Luce (April 10, 1903 – October 9, 1987) was an American editor, playwright, social activist, politician, journalist, and diplomat. Witty, perceptive and determined, she was also a prominent figure in New York society.

Writing career

As a writer for stage, film and magazines, Luce was known for her skill with satire and understatement, as well as her charm with people, which she displayed in oft-quoted aphorisms such as, “No good deed goes unpunished.” After the end of her first marriage, Clare Boothe resumed her maiden name, and joined the staff of the fashion magazine Vogue, as an editorial assistant in 1930. In 1931, she became associate editor of Vanity Fair, and began writing short sketches satirizing New York society. In 1933, the same year she became managing editor of the magazine, her sketches were compiled and published under the title "Stuffed Shirts". Boothe resigned from Vanity Fair in 1934 to pursue a career as a playwright.

Related Topics:
Vogue - Vanity Fair

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In 1935, after her second marriage, Clare Boothe Luce's first play Abide With Me, a psychological drama about an abusive husband and his terrified wife, opened on Broadway. 1936's The Women was a satire on the idleness of wealthy wives and divorcees. It was immensely popular with the public, although received coolly by critics, and ran for 657 performances. The Women" was adapted for the screen in 1939. In 1938, Luce introduced a political allegory about American Fascism in Kiss the Boys Goodbye. With a story line about the search for an actress to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, the play was named one of the ten best plays of the year. In "Margin of Error" in 1939, Luce presented the murder of a Nazi agent as both a comedy and a melodrama. It was well received, and, along with the two earlier successful plays, confirmed Luce's status as a leading American playwright.

Related Topics:
Broadway - The Women - Fascism - Scarlett O'Hara - Gone with the Wind - Nazi

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In 1940, after World War II began, Luce took time away from her success as a playwright, and traveled to Europe as a journalist for her husband's Life magazine. During a four month visit, she covered a wide range of World War II battlefronts. Her observations of Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and England in the midst of the German offensive were published as "Europe in the Spring" in 1940. This anecdotal account describes "...a world where men have decided to die together because they are unable to find a way to live together."

Related Topics:
Italy - France - Belgium - Netherlands - England - German

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In 1941, Luce and her husband toured China and reported on the status of the country and its war with Japan. After the United States entered World War II, Luce toured Africa, India, China, and Burma, compiling reports for "Life". Luce endured the frustrations and dangers familiar to most war correspondents, including bombing raids in Europe and the Far East. Luce's unsettling observations eventually led to changes in British military policy in the Middle East. During this tour, she published interviews with General Harold Alexander, commander of British troops in the Middle East; Chiang Kai-Shek; Jawaharlal Nehru; and General Joseph Warren Stilwell, commander of American troops in the China-Burma-India theater. While in Trinidad, she faced house arrest by British Customs due to Allied discomfort over contents of a draft "Life" article.

Related Topics:
China - Japan - Africa - India - Burma - Harold Alexander - Chiang Kai-Shek - Jawaharlal Nehru - Joseph Warren Stilwell - Trinidad

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In 1947, after her second term in the US House expired, Luce wrote a series of articles describing her conversion to Roman Catholicism. These were published in McCall's magazine. In 1949, she wrote the screenplay for the film "Come to the Stable", about two nuns trying to raise money to build a children's hospital. The screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award. Luce returned to writing for the stage in 1951 with Child of the Morning. In 1952, she edited the book "Saints for Now", a compilation of essays about various saints written by authors including Whittaker Chambers, Evelyn Waugh, and Rebecca West. Her final play Slam the Door Softly was written in 1970.

Related Topics:
McCall's - Come to the Stable - Academy Award - Whittaker Chambers - Evelyn Waugh - Rebecca West

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